Pages

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Showcasing local food and produce

Like so
many people I was out about enjoying our beautiful county over the Easter
period and on Saturday morning I visited the Great Little Farmers’ Market
in Goring Road, Worthing.

This
Farmers’ Market was the idea of a couple of individuals from the local business
community who were looking to attract more people to shop and support the
retailers in Goring Road.

Supported
by the local County Councillor, Paul High, and the Borough Council and with
some funding from the West Sussex County Local Committee Grants the idea came
to fruition and Great Little Farmers’ Market Goring Road was successfully
launched in March this year with lots of support from the community. It meets
on the first Saturday of the month and already seems to be very popular if the
appreciative comments I overheard from people who were out and about are
anything to go by!

The
location works well with the wide pavements providing space for people to
browse and shop at the stalls while still leaving enough space for pushchairs
and disability scooters so it was a well spotted opportunity.

To me this
is a fine example of the community identifying a need and an opportunity and
working with the Borough and County Councils to make the idea a reality – very
much along the lines of ‘helping people to help themselves’.

I am a big
fan of Farmers’ Markets as they are such a good way to showcase local food and
produce and we have around 20 across West Sussex doing exactly that. For many
small artisan food producers it is the best way of building their business and
often establishing a regular clientele which is so important when starting out
in business.

Many of the
local shops in the Goring Road area were also benefiting from extra customers
by offering special deals to people shopping at the Farmers’ Market. Another
example of what is being done by local businesses to attract shoppers and
another reason why we should do all we can to support them.

West Sussex
produces some terrific food and has strong agricultural and horticultural
businesses which are all very much part of our cultural heritage. So across the
food sector there is so much to celebrate and enjoy in West Sussex.If you love all things local you’ll enjoy reading our Taste West Sussex Magazine. The next edition will be out in Mid-May.Best wishes,Louise